Crook County Commission responds to complaint about meeting notice

SUNDANCE (WNE) — Crook County commissioners last week responded to a formal complaint about providing notice of meetings. 

In a letter to the Crook County Land Use Plan Steering Committee and the commissioners dated May 21, Mark Koep complained that insufficient notice was given for a recent special meeting. 

The notice posted by the commissioners, he wrote, stated only that the business to be transacted was to, “Attend the monthly Steering Committee meeting.”

Koep formally objected, writing that “This language fails to comply with the specificity requirement of the Wyoming Public Meetings Act…which mandates that special meeting notices clearly specify the business to be transacted.

“A vague reference to attendance at a meeting, without any detail as to what topics will be discussed or actions considered, does not allow the public to determine whether the meeting is of interest or concern – defeating the very purpose of the statute,” he said.

Koep was correct, said County Attorney Joe Baron.

“The steering committee did not write a notice,” he said. 

However, he said, there are two separate issues here: notice from the steering committee, and notice from the county commissioners. 

The steering committee was hosting the meeting and is the entity that should be issuing the required notice, including agenda and times, he said. 

The notice from the commissioners to which Koep referred in his letter was therefore sufficient for that entity, which was only in attendance at the meeting at the request of the steering committee. 

In the future, Baron said, the steering committee should publish notice of its meetings; it was determined that these will be placed on the county website and sent out by email to parties who request notification.

This story was published on June 12, 2025.